Stephen Ames can’t say enough good things about the course setup at St. George’s this week, in stark contrast to the harsh words he has for the setup at last month’s U.S. Open.
The Calgary resident said on Wednesday that St. George’s is in much better condition than Pebble Beach was for the U.S. Open, in large part due to their respective putting surfaces.
,br>
“That was, in my words, probably the worst I’ve ever played a U.S. Open — condition wise,” he said. “The greens were horrific, unfortunately.”
Given Ames’ tendency to make controversial statements and the fact he missed the cut at the U.S. Open with rounds of 74-84, it would be easy to dismiss his criticism as nothing more than sour grapes. But Ames wasn’t alone.
Following his second round at the U.S. Open, Tiger Woods called the greens “awful” during his post-round press conference. Ames did say Pebble Beach is a great golf course and he enjoys the layout, but added the greens just weren’t up to normal U.S. Open standards.
“And I think a lot of players would agree on that part,” Ames added.
We know at least one does.
As for St. George’s putting surfaces, Ames says the course superintendent has managed to find the right balance.
“These greens are going to be a little softer (than Pebble Beach),” he said. “They’re really not going to get to the standard of a U.S. Open for a couple of reasons. We don’t want to lose the golf course; and two, the greens (here) have probably three times more slope on them than Pebble Beach.”
Despite the severity of the greens, Ames believes the rough will provide the biggest challenge this week.
“It’s the kind of rough that … if you’re lucky — you can get an 8-iron on. Yeah, it’s that thick.
“But overall, this is one of my favourite courses (in Canada) and I’m glad to see the Canadian Open is on one of our great golf courses.
———-
England’s Paul Casey will be playing in his first Canadian Open this week, and it’s in large part thanks to some hard campaigning by a pair of Canucks.
Casey is coming off a disappointing T3 at last week’s Open Championship following a final round 75 and, at No. 8 in the world, he is the highest-ranked player in the field this week.
Given Casey’s close call last week, Canadian Open organizers must have been holding their breath praying fatigue wouldn’t lead to a last-minute withdrawal.
But for Casey, it simply wasn’t an option.
“I’ve got a friend of mine (Steve Lobb) who’s been a member here for 20 years, caddie for me today. He’s like, ‘You gotta come play it.’ And I’ve always said, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ll come play it,’ and here it is. I had to come play it. I couldn’t back out.'”
The other Canadian to put the squeeze on Casey was none other than Mike Weir, who personally asked him if he would be willing to cross the Atlantic and take part in his charity classic on Monday, less than 24 hours after completing the British Open.
“Any time a guy comes up to you, especially Mike Weir — he’s one of the nicest guys out here — and personally asks you to be part of something, I find it very difficult to say no to people, and I can’t say no to Mike Weir.”
A third reason Casey will be trying to become the first Englishman to win Canada’s national golf championship since Peter Oosterhuis in 1981, is his strong desire to leave a mark on the game’s history.
“I’m very hungry for major success,” he explained. “That’s the one thing that I haven’t achieved yet that I want to achieve.
“I’ll be honest: it’s the major titles, it’s the historical events like the Canadian Open, things I want to win to get my name down in history. It’s the third oldest national championship in the world. I put it down as a great event.”
———-
Around the putting green at every PGA Tour event you’ll find a number of equipment dealers hoping for just a moment of a player’s time to hear their pitch and try their product.
Carolanne Doig can be found at roughly a half dozen PGA Tour events each year promoting her product, Seaforth Rain Gear, so to find her around the practice green at St. George’s on Wednesday wasn’t unusual other than the fact that she’s operating on home turf this week.
The small company she began in the town of Seaforth, ON a little over 15 years ago providing bag covers (or rain hoods) now provides the same equipment to “about 91 per cent of PGA Tour players,” Doig claims. Her customers include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood and she also provided the bag covers for the 2008 European Ryder Cup team.
“It’s actually easier to tell you who doesn’t use it,” she said.
Doig’s family has a long history in the game as owners of Seaforth Golf Club, site of an annual Canadian Tour event. Her brother, Ken, caddied for 22 years on the PGA Tour, including for Bob Murphy when he won the Canadian Open at Glen Abbey in 1986.
The former elementary school teacher could find herself a busy lady later in the week should a forecast calling for heavy rains on Friday, and possibly Saturday, proves true.